History 258 The Industrial Revolution in America Spring 2000

During the month of April we will undertake a collaborative research project using data for Cleveland collected from the 1870 and 1880 manuscript returns of the Federal Census of Manufactures. This project builds on work done by previous students in this course, yet it should advance our knowledge of industrializing Cleveland in new ways largely of your own choosing.

Step 1: Students will "clean" the data entered by previous classes. For this purpose, you will closely compare photocopies of the original census returns with entries in Excel worksheets created by those classes. Your share of the data cleaning must be done by Monday, April 10. You will send me the cleaned data, and I will update the worksheets accordingly.

Step 2: We will discuss research strategies, including how best to classify occupational and other data, on Wednesday, April 12. We will proceed with classification of the data.

Step 3: Each student will choose a topic to research and write up a brief prospectus (1-2 pages) explaining his or her goals and strategies. The prospectus will be due on AltaVista Forum by 9 a.m. on Friday, April 21. We will discuss these propectuses in class that day.

Step. 4: Students will pursue their research individually but in consultation with each other. I hope this proves to be a cooperative enterprise in which we all benefit from each other's suggestions and efforts.

Step 5: Students will both make oral presentations and submit written reports (4-5 pages) of their findings. The oral presentations will be scheduled for the first week of May. The written reports will be due on Monday, May 8.

GJK
April 3, 2000